The Independent National Electoral Commission has objected to a request by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress to amend their lawsuit seeking to disqualify President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress from the 2027 presidential election over an alleged forged National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate.
INEC’s preliminary objection, filed on September 7 by its lawyer Dr. Alex Izinyon, SAN, challenged the competence of the suit on grounds that it is statute‑barred, that the plaintiffs lack locus standi, that there is no reasonable cause of action and that the case amounts to an abuse of court process.
The commission also argued that Atiku and the ADC failed to comply with the mandatory written deposition requirement under Paragraph 7(1) of the Federal High Court Pre‑Election Practice Directions (Amendment) 2026, and urged the court to dismiss the matter in its entirety.
Atiku, the ADC’s presidential aspirant, and his party filed the originating summons—marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026—in the Federal High Court in Abuja, naming President Tinubu and the APC as first and second defendants and INEC as the third defendant.
They are asking Justice Inyang Ekwo to rule that a forged NYSC discharge certificate was submitted to INEC and to order the electoral umpire to remove Tinubu and the APC from the list of candidates and parties for the 2027 presidential elections.
In their joint counter‑affidavit filed on September 9, President Tinubu and the APC prayed the court to dismiss the suit as incompetent, saying the plaintiffs lacked the legal right to institute the case.
They denied submitting any forged certificate to INEC for either the 2023 or 2027 elections and stated they did not submit any Form CF001 to INEC for those polls as claimed by the plaintiffs.
The duo added that the NYSC has never denied issuing a discharge certificate to the president at the end of his service.
The court has adjourned the matter to Sept. 28 for further hearing after earlier proceedings were stalled by issues around service of process and media discussion of the case, which prompted Justice Ekwo to warn lawyers against discussing details of the suit outside the courtroom.
